So far, city taxpayers have paid MDB International, a private firm based in Alexandria, Va., at least $178,717 to look at the numerous dirt piles under the rug at Metro police. Let’s hope taxpayers get their money’s worth.

Much will depend on what Mayor Edna Jackson and the elected members of City Council do with the findings and how City Manager Stephanie Cutter implements them. Let’s hope they have the political backbone to follow one of the most important recommendations from MDB.

Buried in this report was a brief but critical piece of advice. It’s a laser-guided missile into the root of many problems at Metro that go back decades, not just a few years —an overarching emphasis on diversity.

According to MDB, diversity is Metro’s top priority when it comes to managing its 800-plus member workforce. That’s a stunningly awful revelation.

In fact, here’s how MDB (clunkily) phrased it:

“Although stated in the SCMPD ‘Goals and Objectives’ the primary objective is diversity, this must be modified to equally address hiring people with the predisposition to necessary police work behaviors. (i.e. ethics, honesty, public service mentality, interpersonal skills, etc.) — ‘quality people that understand the bright lines.’”

In the old days, the police department was lily white. Over the years, through multiple mayors and city managers, City Hall worked to change the complexion at the police department so it more closely reflected those it serves — a racially mixed population of about 276,000.

And that’s not just the right thing to do, morally and legally. It’s smart policing. Officers who reflect the community have a better chance of building trust and support than those who don’t. That reduces crime.

But there’s a huge risk to making diversity the No. 1 goal in any organization.

Mainly, it pushes everything else toward the bottom. At Metro, it meant being a good cop often came second to being a pawn in an unofficial quota system.

Politicians who pander may disagree. But effective crime-fighting involves more than the skin color and gender of those who form the thin blue line. It involves recruiting, training and retaining officers who are honest, ethical and committed to protecting the public. It means employing cops who know and respect that “bright line” between good and bad.

When citizens call 911, most of them could care less whether the officers who respond are white, black, Hispanic or Asian. They don’t care if they’re male or female. But they do expect that cop to be a trained pro.

Human resources policies that appear to push race-based hiring and promotion, while downgrading ethics and honesty, don’t contribute to a professional police force. In the wrong hands, they create a toxic swamp.

It’s bad enough that city taxpayers shelled out $200,000 in February to a black police captain because former Chief Willie Lovett told him last year that the major’s job was reserved for a white applicant. But don’t judge Lovett too harshly. He didn’t make the race-centric rules that devalue merit.

He inherited them. So did his predecessor, Michael Berkow, who tried to make changes but was blocked by City Hall. So did David Gellatly, who saw 10 corrupt and inept officers shuffle off to prison under his watch after a federal drug investigation in 1997.

Mostly, these chiefs played by HR rules they didn’t make — rules handed down from City Hall, where politics typically come first.

Changing Metro’s diversity-first policy could create political heartburn for Mayor Jackson, City Council and the city manager.

But it must be addressed. Their well-paid expert, MDB, laid it out for them. Indeed, it said more than 200 cops have left Metro during the past two years — a shocking indictment.

Changing chiefs, rooting out corrupt cops and revamping internal affairs are necessary. But they aren’t enough. The mayor and council must root out the politics behind HR policies that can foster corruption.

It’s good to value diversity. But don’t lower other standards that enable the wrong kind of officers — white or black — to wear blue.

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For years, Human Resource departments have been plaguing police departments with how many black ones, white ones, red ones, green ones, blue ones, and on and on that can or cannot be hired. It's time to let police departments do their own hiring and let human resources do what they are supposed to do...keep personnel files.

And your comment, "So did his predecessor, Michael Berkow, who tried to make changes but was blocked by City Hall", is so true. Berkow tried to get rid of the incompetents and dead weight, but was blocked by City Hall. The solution to the Metro problem (for the City) is to clean out City Hall! The solution to the Metro problem (for the County) is to get the hell out of the merger!

... and in over his head, but he was not the cause of the problem, he was the symptom. The cause of the problem was/is the incompetents running City Hall. Good luck with changing that since the majority of the voters subscribe to the "It's our time now" school of thought expressed by former mayor Otis Johnson.

If citizens are serious about getting a first class police department in Savannah, they need to demand the City leaders listen to what is being said.

As long as a Police Chief is micro-managed by the politicos, there will never be an effective crime fighting force at Savannah Chatham Metro.

The Police Chief needs to be able to hire his people and to root out those people who do not measure up. Until the Police Chief is able to put his/her mangers into position, he/she will never run the Department. It will run him/her.

Example #1 is to get rid of the current level of managers and replace the same with his/her choices. Sure, some Metro folks are gone but there are still dozens of managers who from the old regime. Keep them, keep the old problems.

Example #2 is to examine why police officers are abandoning ship. If you lose 200 officers, something is systemically wrong with the Department. That many people are saying something that the Department is not hearing or does not want to hear. Looking at the officers who are bailing, is it possible your management staffers are burning out these folks with silly and nonsensical stuff such as playing "gotcha" for alleged policy violations while others, "favored", slide by?

The cost to hire, train, educate, outfit officers is expensive. If these folks are bailing after two or so years, is it not logical to assume, we are wasting amounts on a hiring/training unit that is not looking to maximize the return on investment? How long can we sustain this myopic vision of the current police department.

Ruling a Department by fear and intimidation will brow beat some into submission. Most will look for ways to get away. Go to any small agency and you will find former Metro Officers who left because it was just too much hassle to remain with Metro. Smaller Departments have less management and more leadership. Patrol folks gravitate toward those departments. Those Departments bring fun to the challenging world of policing.

Suffice it to say that unless we, as citizens, demand City Council to listen, that crowd, under the Dome, will hang another incompetent around our necks as they did with the last two Chiefs.

Competency vs incompetency is the problem for the City Council with regards to the Police department. You may have a competent candidate for Chief but he or she is not the diversity flavor of the month, our Council may take the short sighted position and hire the politically correct party rather than the competent party. Who suffers? Certainly not the criminals who have no fear of the Police Department. We suffer [ for those of you who cannot connect the dots. ]

If the best person for the job is an Asian-African-White American woman who is a thirty year veteran, so be it as long as she is competent. If it is an older white guy, so be it so long as he is competent. Then, once hired, get out of his/her way and let him/her do the job for which hired.

The blatant racism of the prior mayor to state publicly that he wanted to "see faces like his own" started us to this path of chaos in our Police Department as well as other Departments such as Recorder's Court. I hope the current council has the fervor to do what is right and to demand what is right of the new hire for Chief. I just wont hold my breath.

Not for one minute am I going to find fault in this report. It sounds pretty spot on albeit way to costly. I will however point out that many groups in this city know full well how the white collar thieves operate. The SEDA's and The Chamber folks pass around contracts and opportunities that never see the light of day. They abscond from our property taxes and they loot from our sales tax money with little or no concern for value or outcome. They pay low wages and never are held accountable. They pat themselves on the back and then get a big amen from the publishers and editors of this newspaper. It's not right for police officers to lack in ethics, fairness, or morality but when those on high routinely lack it, you have to wonder why there's no outrage, consequence, or change. Both need to change.

EVERY dept. in the city has the same NFBPA requirements. They opened the door for early retirement and EVERY one who qualified left. Why ??? The NFBPA has blocked the advancement of every candidate for promotion except the black ones.

Way to go Tom, you were able to write 24 paragraphs about them and never mention their name. They are called the NFBPA. One day they will all be famous, and a few weeks later ....jailed ( hopefully )

In his last days Don Mendonza tried to get it right. He revamped HR and tried to change the culture of the city workforce. He instituted pay for performance, quality programs, team building and, most of all, fairness in the system. Michael Brown dismantled all Don's efforts and went back to a pure patronage system that catered to the whims of city council....because he wanted job security. You're seeing the results- a disgruntled workforce and in some departments, purely corrupt.

A police department that needs to police itself! An incompetent Mayor and Council...They squandered $200,000. for a report that I wrote 2 years ago for NOTHING! Hey, Mayor, hire me, I'll clean that mess up in 30 days for $10,000....Tom Barton is a nice man, no doubt, but he needs to EXPOSE THE BUMS AT EVERY TURN! Name names, political correctness be damned! "Yes, it is their turn," and they have made a disgraceful showing! The visitors are watching, tourism is on the decline, and the bums are laughing all the way to the bank!

too bad Mendonsa did not try to get it right in his first days. Patronage system? Isn't that what this city was under prior to 1954? You mean the bad old days came back and nobody noticed? Very interesting! Everybody does know full well how white collar thieves operate. They also know that white collar thieves don't find themselves the subject of a $178,717 study. Tom Barton used to be a cub reporter for the SMN. Now he is a hack editorial writer. Where is Tom Coffey and Archie Whitfield when you need them? Lovett was with the police department since 1973, any charges of incompetency could also go to his mentors be they black or white. After all they taught him everything he knew. " A police department that needs to police itself, kind of like saying the residents of Georgia Regional can police themselves, they don't need no staff. Since the existence of the police department, all its chiefs were of one ethnicity. Former mayor Otis Johnson and current mayor Edna Jackson knew what they was. They grew up during that era. Berkow was too busy trying to get himself seen ( one would thought he was Joe Friday) He came from and back to La La land he went.

I agree the SCMPD does have problems, but where do you live and how many peolple of color are employed by the Tybee Police Department currently. Also how many people of color have ever been employed at anytime in the history of the Tybee Police Department? Just curious.